Energy firms cry foul over hike in customs duty on solar equipment

Solar power developers in India are crying foul over the government’s move to raise tariffs on imports of green energy equipment such as solar cells and modules in the budget.

The step is aimed at driving local manufacturing of such equipment and discouraging low-quality Chinese imports but companies believe the tariff increase made through an enabling mechanism in the budget will hurt their business.

Once a separate notification is issued, a new duty structure enabling a basic customs duty (BCD) of 20% on cells and modules will come into effect. Such equipment earlier did not attract any BCD.